


The Stars in Your Eyes

by ToodleOfDeeth



Category: History Boys (2006), History Boys - All Media Types, History Boys - Bennett
Genre: Crushes, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2019-01-07 13:55:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12234231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ToodleOfDeeth/pseuds/ToodleOfDeeth
Summary: 'He has arms to die for,' he thinks idly in class and forces himself to stop what he’s doing.





	The Stars in Your Eyes

_He has arms to die for,_  he thinks idly in class and forces himself to stop what he’s doing. 

_Look at his chest,_ his eyes command him after PE, and he tries very hard to focus on what Lockwood is saying. He doesn't turn around.

_What would it be like,_ he thinks in the library,  _if he were to push me up against the shelves?_  Quickly, far too quickly, he looks back down to the open books splayed out over the desk. He struggles not to think about himself spread in a similar way. 

_Wouldn't it be nice just to sit with him?_ And he can feel Timms watching him from across the picnic bench. He forces himself to keep chewing, but the feeling of being watched still prickles the back of his neck. He swallows and looks up, noticing the lapse in the conversation. Lockwood just smirks.

_It’s meant to be,_  he forces himself to stop mid thought. He just knows that the others know, his endless suspicion making him look to the others around him. All of them reading. Posner with his head diligently down. Scripps with a book resting in his lap. Lockwood doodling in the margins. Dakin looking out the window. Timms chewing gum. Akhtar slouched over his novel.

And Rudge.

Staring straight back at him. 

  


_He knows_ , he panics on the walk home,  _he knows. He knows. How could he know?_

_Was it the wistful glances?_ Lockwood laughs on his left shoulder.

_The gentle sighs?_ Timms banters back on his right.

He brushes his hands over his shoulders, dispersing his demons, and turns down the road to his house; shoulders slumped and head to the floor. 

  


He tries very hard not to think of him that night. But truth be told thinking about not thinking about him only made things worse.

  


The next day, Rudge isn't looking at him in class. But then again, no one is looking anywhere other than the black board. 

Exams tend to do that to people.

But then later,  _later,_ when everyone’s gone home and he’s just about too, he feels the hairs on his neck stand.  _Someones watching,_  he thinks and knows,  _it’s him. It’s got to be him._  But he can't force his body to turn. 

“Crowther,” Rudge said, “You okay to talk?”

Stomach full of butterflies, he couldn't help but feel a little bit calm. Almost an  _oh_ , of sorts.  _This is it._

_Turn around,_  his mind whispers.  _Turn around and kiss him. He’s right there._

Crowther turned around, body as aggressively neutral as he could muster. And there was Rudge, head slightly dipped (from embarrassment? hope?) and leaning against the doorframe. There was a pause; Crowther’s head spiraling around the words  _do something! Do something!_  But he couldn't tell who it was yelling at.

Rudge met his gaze. Crowther felt his chest seize. 

“Fancy going to the pub? First round on me?”

He felt himself smile and didn't need to listen to the voices in his head before murmuring out a quiet, “yeah.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to the first day of The October History Boys writing thing! It doesnt really have a name, but each sunday in October there will (hopefully) be a new fan fiction.
> 
> Please leave kudos, bookmarks and comments!


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